James Potter and the Nights of Terror
by maraudersandlilyland
Summary: I am writing 7 installments of the marauders' era fanfiction! (This is going to be a multi-chapter fic with 6 more folloups to come!) It contains Jily, of course, and Wolfstar (Remus and Sirius). I don't know how many chapters it will be. Rated T for mild swearing and kissing people eventually. Actually, probably not in this installment. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

Remus

Remus John Lupin looked out of the car window. He rested his chin on his hand, which in turn rested on the armrest beside the window. His face was glued to the window. His father was playing loud country music, much to his mother and his dislike. But when she didn't say anything, neither did he.

Remus got very carsick on car rides like this. Otherwise he would have been reading. That was his solution to everything. Bored? Remus read, because it was his favorite thing to do. Tired? Remus read until his eyes could no longer be forced open. Angry? Remus read, albeit angrily. He loved to escape into the fantasy worlds so much better than his own. His own world was a sort of torture.

For Remus Lupin was a werewolf. He had been bitten at the age of seven. None of his schoolmates could know. If he could make any, that was. Remus was extremely lucky to have made it into Hogwarts.

And this was what caused Remus the most conflict with his father. His father was a muggle, you see. When he found out that his son had taken after his mother, he had nearly left the young boy and the witch. But, in the end, he decided to stay and be unhappy. Remus could never understand why. Especially after Remus had been bitten. John had acted as if it was all Remus's fault, and Clara's. But how was he to know about the beast lurking in the snow that day?

A young Remus had joined up with a small group of friends who could be considered his friends had invited him to a snowball fight. They played in a field until it was mostly dark out. It was a full moon that night.

Most of the other boys had left for supper, but Remus and two others remained playing. They had heard a small whimpering sound from a little ways along the field. He had gone close to the sound to see what appeared to be a hurt dog lying in the snow. He called to his friends to go get help.

A few moments later, however, the dog stopped whimpering. Then suddenly, it howled. The dreadful sound of it calling its deadly pack. Remus Lupin turned and ran.

But it was too late. The werewolf jumped upon him, scratching him. Luckily for Remus, his mother arrived at that very moment. She pulled out her wand and the beast ran, whining. But it had already bitten Remus. Remus was already infected.

Remus was very, _very_ lucky to be able to go to Hogwarts. If it weren't for Dumbledore... He shook his head, blinking away the drowsiness that he had almost succumbed to. He let out a big and silent yawn, and looked out the window. His eyes widened at the sight they brung.

A massive station loomed in front of him. The car pulled up to King's Cross and Remus opened his door eagerly. His mother got out and started helping him gather up his trunk and owl, Orion, which had been a present from his mother celebrating his acceptance to Hogwarts. His father got out of the car, only to lean against his closed door and light up a cigarette. He gave a small wave to Remus and then looked away.

Normally the boy would've been hurt by this, but today he was far too excited. He ran off towards the station, his mother carrying his things in tow.

Once they reached the main area of the station Remus grabbed a trolley and his mother heaved the heavy trunk and owl cage onto it. Remus was proud to say he pushed it all by himself. How would he look if his mother turned up carrying his luggage?

Remus gave a small shake of his head. People were going to judge him for a lot worse things than that. He walked, his head in his own little world, floating past all the trains and passengers. He finally gave another little shake of his dazed head as they reached the space between platforms nine and ten. His mother placed a calming hand on his shoulder, and he looked up at her. She gave a slight nod of her head, and together they rushed towards the seemingly solid brick wall. Remus held his breath as they were about to collide with the column. But the crash never came. Remus opened his eyes to a wonderful sight.

All around him were rushing witches and wizards, old people and young people, bustling past him towards the train. Mothers and fathers hugged their children good-bye. Students reunited with friends. The noise was immense.

Remus, usually one for quiet, was not bothered at all by the looming wall of sound. Quite the opposite, really: he was astounded and curious as he had never actually been somewhere with this many people of his age before.

A Conductor yelled out, his voice magically enhanced, "Two minutes 'til we leave the station! All aboard! All aboard!"

Remus's mother turned him around and kissed him on the cheek, then straightened his clothes for the umpteenth time. Remus playfully pushed her away, but relished her kind touch. She ruffled up his hair again, and sent him towards the train with a blown kiss. Remus had time to give one last wave before he was pushed into the crowd moving towards the train.

Once everyone got on the train, things started to settle down. People made for the empty compartments with their groups of friends. A lot of people had already filled up their compartments by the time Remus came back to his senses. He had been so overwhelmed by the experience of it all, the experience of _being _and, almost, _belonging_. He could never remember feeling as if he fit in, even before he had been bitten.

The aisle of the train was fairly empty by now, and the boy started to move down. Almost every compartment was full, or had angry-looking older students in it. Remus finally came upon one with a particularly mousy looking, young boy in it. He opened the door to find the kid staring out the window as if trying to see back home.

_Ah-hem_, Remus made a coughing noise. The boy snapped around. "Could I sit here? All the other compartments are full," Remus questioned, gesturing to the seat across from the boy. He nodded, and turned his full body around to face Remus. The boy had dirty blonde hair, a few shades lighter than Remus's own. He had a dusting of freckles along his nose and cheeks and was relatively pudgy, but had a kind, round face.

He extended a hand politely. "I'm Peter Tobuscus Pettigrew," he said. Remus took the hand and shook it firmly, and with an air of confidence that he didn't feel.

"I'm Remus John Lupin." Boys these days felt it important to share their middle names as well as their first. "This is my first year here. You?"

"My first too," squeaked Peter. Strange, his voice was rather squeaky. "You nervous?"

Remus was just opening his mouth to answer when the compartment door slid open again. Both boys looked over.

"Hey. I'm James Ignotus Potter. First year. Mind if we share with you?" Peter and Remus simultaneously waved towards the seats in an open gesture. James smirked a bit, but not unkindly. He had a mop of black hair that stuck up at the back. He also had circular wiry glasses that were oddly suited to his face. His eyes shone a kind amber. Then Remus saw the boy that had accompanied him, and his breath caught a little.

**A/N: This is my first real fanfiction that I am writing. The rest of the chapters are going to alternate between Remus's, Sirius's, and James's points of view, and perhaps Lily's later on. I am writing this on google docs, and for each character I have chosen a font that I think is what their handwriting would look like. The rest of Remus's bits are also in first person, because I think it sounds better in the context, where as this one sounds better in 3rd. I don't know. I hope you liked it though! This story will also later have Wolfstar and, of course, Jily. If you don't like either of these ships please don't read it.**

**Please review, whether good or bad! Tell me if I have made any mistakes and/or things that contradict each other or are blatantly against an important fact in the book that I might have forgotten (except for Remus being straight. Remus belongs with Sirius in my heart.)**

**Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Sirius

I step into the compartment after James has sat down. "Sirius Orion Black." I nod to the boys and sit down next to one of them. They introduce themselves as Remus and Peter. I am sitting next to Remus. I lean back against a corner of the compartment and survey the group. This is my first impression from what I've seen so far.

Peter: Kind of squeaky. Seems scared. Fat. Mousy appearance. Generally a follower, not a leader.

James: Well, he's been my best friend for a while. One of the perks of being a pureblood family; you get to know people. He looks the same as always, with his messed up hair and his glasses.

Remus: Here we've got an example. An example of someone to look out for. When you're around as many people as I am, silently observing them, you tend to notice when the slightest thing is different. This is a good case of that. He looks pretty normal. Light brown hair with the slightest bit of natural gold highlights. Slim figure, but looks pretty strong. Kind of plain but handsome. But that's when you need to look closer. His dark brown eyes hold a clear not of intelligence. I place a firm bet on Ravenclaw. And there's also the obvious difference: he has scars slashing across his face, down his neck, and as he shifts positions it can see some on his arms. This is a curious case that I will have to be patient with to find out all the true secrets.

I mentally shake myself out of my reverie and listen to what is being said. Remus is brightly remarking on how his owl is named Orion, which is my middle name and is oh-so-remarkable. I nod and kind of listen. I notice something else.

He is talking too excitedly. Like, I can get for you to be nervous on your first day, but this is a little beyond that. He is constantly trying to pull up his collar to try to hide the scars on his neck while trying to make it look like he has some kind of spastic itch or something. Fat chance, they're all over his face! But he is obviously trying to hide something, and I'm determined to find out what it is.

His story, if it could be called that, fades out leaving a slightly awkward silence between us. I decide to break it. "How did you get those scars?" I ask, my voice cold but not accusing. I don't know whether to trust this one or not.

"Um, what?" He says nervously, his voice breaking a little. I smirk internally. "What scars?" I can almost physically see him shrinking in his seat.

I simply gesture to all of him. "Well," he titters, "um, you know. I got them."

He is _definitely_ hiding something. I _will _find out.

James

The following awkward silence was very awkward. But I could see where Sirius is going with this. I just wish he would have had a bit more tact.

But maybe he planned this. If the boy, Remus, had answered easily it could really be nothing. But this reaction assured to us that _something_ was going on. But it was still very long and awkward and silent.

"So..." I'm going to at least make an effort. "What's your guys' blood?"

"My parents are both half-blood," Peter chimes in, still looking between Sirius and Remus. Remus is staring at Sirius with well-masked (but not well enough for me) horror, and Sirius is looking at whoever's talking, pretending not to take any notice.

"I'm pure-blood. I don't know if I need to marry a pure-blood, though."

Sirius's tone is still rather dark, but not in a mean way. Just in an I-don't-trust-you-and-I'm-judging-you way. "I'm pure-blood. Don't really see why it matters, though. If my parents caught me saying that, though, they'd most likely lob off my head."

Remus looks a bit happier at that. "My mum's a half-blood. Dad's a muggle. When he told her she was a witch, he almost left. I was three. He came the tiniest bit closer to leaving when I got-" He suddenly stopped.

"Yes?" Said Sirius.

"Hogwarts letter."

Sirius looks satisfied at this. But I know him well enough to know this will not be the end. He wouldn't give up this easily.

That silence hangs on the room again. Luckily we are saved by - "Anything from the trolley?"

I got up to get us some candies. "My treat," I said as Remus went to get his money. He nods appreciatively at me and grabs a book from his bag.

Remus

I am quite happy for the disturbance. I had almost let something huge slip. Peter is oblivious to this. James is kind enough to not act like he notices. But Sirius keeps sneaking glances at me. Even when I don't catch him looking, I can feel his gaze hot on my neck as if it is a real, living presence.

James gets us all the wizard candies that I have been forbidden to eat at home. I sink my teeth hungrily into some licorice wands as the conversation starts up again.

"So, what houses do you think you'll get sorted into?" Says Peter with a mouthful of Droobles.

"I'm hoping for Gryffindor," James says proudly. "My whole family has gotten into there. I can't imagine what my mum might think if I got into Hufflepuff!" I notice he doesn't mention Slytherin.

"I'll probably get in Hufflepuff," squeaks Peter. James pats him on the shoulder.

"I didn't mean Hufflepuff was bad. I just meant that my family expects me to get into Gryffindor, or at least Ravenclaw." Peter brightens at his kind words.

"I expect I'll be a Ravenclaw," I say, slightly downcast. Everyone cool around here obviously got into Gryffindor. "I mean, I'm not all that brave, I read a lot, and I've never had anyone to be especially loyal to." I hang my head down at that. "And I hope I don't get into Slytherin."

"I will." I look back up. Sirius is looking at me with hatred in his cool, silver eyes, but the hatred is not towards me. I have simply reminded him of it. "Get into Slytherin. My whole damned family has gotten into Slytherin, and now I will and they'll turn me into one of them. I hate it. I hate it!" He kicks the floor angrily and lies down on the seat, chucking his shoes onto the floor and laying his head in my lap. I don't know what to do, so I just awkwardly rest my hand on his forehead.

A few of his long, glossy, straight black hairs are falling in front of his closed eyes. I softly brush them away with my hand. I continue to stare for a moment before looking up. James looks surprised at his friend's behavior, and Peter just looks kinda confused and oblivious as always. James moved his puzzled look up to hold my gaze, a question on his face. I give a slight shrug and continue to gently stroke the hairs on Sirius's head as he falls asleep.

James

I was confused. Sirius never opens up to people that he doesn't know. He doesn't let people get to him. And he _most definitely _doesn't fall asleep on someone else's lap.

I searched my memory. He had never done anything even _close _to this affectionate with me. We had had sleepovers, but we always slept on the floor a little ways apart in sleeping bags. We had joked and teased one another. But never anything like this.

I wonder what it was about this small, quiet boy that had affected Sirius so. Maybe he felt sorry for him, being out casted by his dad just like he felt with his family. Maybe he felt like he would understand. Maybe he truly liked him. Maybe he wanted to have a little human contact before he got put into Slytherin, which we both knew was highly probable due to the Sorting Hat's preference for putting people of the same family in the same house. Or maybe...

_No, _I told myself sternly, _no, even Sirius wouldn't play a prank that bad. _Was Sirius just trying to get closer to Remus to learn the secret of his scars? I convinced myself that there was no way he would do that to someone who seemed so innocent. I hoped with all my soul that he would never do that.

Sirius

I wake up to the sound of a voice being magically amplified throughout the train. "The train will reach Hogsmeade station in approximately twenty minutes. Thank you."

I realize there is a hand on my head, and momentarily freak out in my own, silent way. Then I remember. The hand is Remus's. I loosen my tense muscles as I realize the boy is still awake, still stroking my head absentmindedly. The boys must have been talking. Yes, they are talking again now that the announcement is over. They are talking about their favorite Quidditch teams.

I soften into Remus's hand and let him continue for a while. Then I realize we must almost be there.

I feint waking up by yawning largely and stretching. James is not fooled, but clearly the others are. Remus instantly snaps away his hand and makes it look like he was not paying attention to my head in his lap. Yeah right.

"Hey guys," I say sleepily. "We should change into our robes. Backs to the middle?"

We start to strip off our outer clothes, leaving on our underwear, of course, and by my good vantage point in the window as Remus takes off his clothes, not leaving anything exposed for more than a second at a time, it see that he has scars all along his back.

Now I am less curious and more worried. Worried about Remus. Worried I will get into Slytherin and not be able to become friends with the three boys. _Strange, _I think. I never get worried about people other than James.

If I get into Slytherin, James and I will still be friends, right? I think our bond as friends can last a _little _longer. And that Patrick kid or whatever his name is - I don't really care if I get into the same house as him. But Remus. Not only do I want to find out his secret, which would be nearly impossible if I got into Slytherin, I kind of want to be friends with him. He seems nice, alright?

Also, if I am a friend with a half-blood and not in Slytherin, my parents will freak. And I want nothing, I repeat _nothing_, to do with my parents and brother.

-Author's note!-

I hope you liked this installment. I'm currently writing chapter 5. PLEASE REVIEW THIS! And in your review, will you PLEASE tell me _how _to review? my phone won't let me! Thanks a lot! ~maraudersandlilyland


End file.
